“Mad respect to Brandon” - ONE Championship CEO gives props to Brandon Vera for accepting Amir Aliakbari bout

ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong recently commended 'The Truth' Brandon Vera for accepting a heavyweight bout against Iranian wrestler Amir Aliakbari.

While speaking with CNN Sports Desk, Sityodtong commented on the former ONE heavyweight world champion and said:

"Brandon is a true champion, a true warrior, a true Filipino hero to the whole world because I mean, to accept a fight like this, of this magnitude to come back to the Philippines, and fight such a genius KO artist, mad respect to Brandon."

With such a lengthy career in MMA, 'The Truth' has a well-respected reputation and could have taken a different fight. Instead, Vera accepted the match against a dangerous and hungry opponent. Sityodtong continued:

"He could have chosen an easy opponent. He's a superstar, so he could have chosen anybody. But we gave him this because we thought it was something that Filipino fans would just be all over. And again, there's genuine bad blood. So this is going to be fun."

The heavyweight showdown has been booked for ONE 164 on December 3 in Manila, Philippines at the Mall of Asia Arena.

See the full interview below:

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Brandon Vera will be competing at ONE 164

Since making his professional debut in 2002, 'The Truth' Brandon Vera has collected 16 wins in various promotions over his MMA career. Iran's Amir Aliakbari has a dangerous background in wrestling and has put together an impressive record of 11-3 in heavyweight MMA.

Brandon Vera is excited to be fighting in front of a home audience at ONE 164. On Instagram, he stated:

"Announced from the man himself @yodchatri on @cnnphilippines this morning! See you soon Kababayans! I’m Coming Home, I’m Coming Home, Tell The World I’m Coming Home."

Also featured at ONE 164 will be a headlining bout with the ONE strawweight world championship on the line when 'The Passion' Joshua Pacio faces 'The Monkey God' Jarred Brooks.

Additionally, the fight card will host the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix final, which will see 'The Kicking Machine' Superlek Kiatmoo9 take on 'The Angel Warrior' Panpayak Jitmuangnon. ONE 164 is must-see television for fans of combat sports.